12 Animatoin Pricipals

To start the animation ,first we should know the principles of animation ,it is very important to know the standard principles of animation .



1. Squash and stretch 7. Secondary action
2. Anticipation 8. Timing and spacing
3. Staging 9. Arcs and path of action
4. Straight a head and pose to pose 10. Exaggeration
5. Follow through and overlapping action 11. Solid drawing
6. Slow-in and slow-out 12. Appeal


This principles are used to animation for quality production of animation,lets go in details with this principles


1. Squash and stretch : squash and stretch is a way of deforming an object such that it shows how rigid the object is.
For example: If rubber ball bounces and hits the ground it will tend to flatten when it hits.This is the squash principle .As it starts to bounce up it will stretch in the direction it is going.Squash and stretch was also initially done to prevent strobing [ordinary or familiar conversation] due to lack of motion blur.However even in-case where motion blur can be used,there may still be reasons to use it.

An important note about squash and stretch is that no matter how an object deforms,it should still appear to retain its volume.That is,if a ball flattens down 2 times as much as normal,it will have to get 2 times wide to keep its volume.If a character or part of a character doesn't maintain volume with squash and stretch believability will be lost




2. Anticipation : Anticipation is the preparation for the action.




A slight movement in the opposite direction that your main movement is in.This is called ANTICIPATION.The anticipation gives a movement of preparation of the character ,and the audience to gain the full advantage of the main movement.
Anticipation,action and reaction are the three of the main foundational principles of animation.without them your Animation will appear to be mechanical and stiff.
As a general rule every action must have an anticipation.The anticipation telegraphs to the viewer what is about to happen.





3. Staging : The story ,the most important element of any narrative entertainment must be told clearly.We should show what our character is doing clearly enough,so that the action can read.it is said that every character in a scene should define what is going on,so plot everything out and be sure the viewer is given all the information he/she needs.









4. Straight ahead and pose to pose : There are two approaches creating action or animation:



STRAIGHT AHEAD means u do the poses in sequence,one after another .Usually used to create widely expressive action.




POSE TO POSE means you plot out the action in a series of poses then go back and inbetween the poses.This method is most commonly used to create action needed to clearly denote the story point.





5.Follow through & overlapping action: The animation of an extremity[extreme point or very end],such as a coat,tail,hair,or a feather in the hat,is difficult to key at the same time as the character to which it belongs.
object of this nature move to some extent independently of the character they are attached to the movement of extremity depends on-

1.THE ACTION OF THE CHARACTER.
2.THE EXTREMITY'S OWN WEIGHT AND DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY.
3.AIR RESISTANCE.





OVERLAPPNIG ACTION is very similar to secondary action but rather the overlapping action being a direct result of the primary action it is an action of it's own that simply moves at an off timing of the original action.
An example of this is the stomach of a very fat rabbit who is jumping up and down .The stomach is slightly delayed to the primary action,some time by one or two poses. So,as the body reaches its lowest point in the jump action and the legs being to propel the body upward,the stomach is still moving down,then on the next pose it begins to move up with the rest of the body.








6.Slow-in and slow-out : As a general rule:action will usually tend to slow-out of the tops and bottoms of an
arcs,or what usually the extreme poses in your action.


SLOW-IN &SLOW-OUT has to do with gradually causing an object to accelerate,or come to rest,from a pose.An object or limb may slow down at it approaches a pose that is easy in or slow in or gradually start to move from rest that is ease out or slow out.


For example ,a bouncing ball tend to have a lot of ease in and out when at the top of its bounce.As it goes up.gravity affects it and slows down,then it starts its downward motion more and more rapidly,until it hits the ground.







7. Timing and spacing : Timing is the part of animation,which gives meaning to movement.movement can easily be achieved by posing the same thing in two different positions and inserting a number of other poses between two.
SPACING :when any object in nature moves from a rest point 1 ,and stop at a point 25 it has a tendency owing to the properties of matter to accelerate to a maximum speed in the middle of the movement and then slowdown to a stop.Obviously there are an infinite number of variation in detail,but this is the general tendency.




8. Arcs and path of action :We use it as a path of action,when we are plotting a move from one pose to the next.Every thing organic moves in curves.


Actually an arcs doesn't work physically.It helps to give some extra appeal in ANIMATION.








9. Exaggeration : Exaggeration is an effect especially useful for animation, as perfect imitation of reality can look static and dull in cartoons. The level of exaggeration depends on

whether one seeks realism or a particular style, like a caricature or the style of an artist. The classical definition of exaggeration, employed by Disney, was to remain true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder, more extreme form. Other forms of exaggeration can involve the supernatural or surreal, alterations in the physical features of a character, or elements in the storyline itself. It is important to employ a certain level of restraint when using exaggeration; if a scene contains several elements, there should be a balance in how those elements are exaggerated in relation to each other, to avoid confusing or overawing the viewer.


10. Solid drawing : The principle of solid drawing means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space,


giving them volume and weight. The animator needs to be a skilled droughtsman and has to understand the basics of three-dimensional shapes, anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow, etc. For the classical animator, this involved taking art classes and doing sketches from life. One thing in particular that Johnston and Thomas warned against was creating "twins": characters whose left and right sides mirrored each other, and looked lifeless.Modern-day computer animators draw less because of the facilities computers give them, yet their work benefits greatly from a basic understanding of animation principles, and their additions to basic computer animation









11.Secondary action : .Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing his


arms or keep them in his pockets, he can speak or whistle, or he can express emotions through facial expressions. The important thing about secondary actions is that they emphasize, rather than take attention away from the main action. If the latter is the case, those actions are better left out. In the case of facial expressions, during a dramatic movement these will often go unnoticed. In these cases it is better to include them at the beginning and the end of the movement, rather than during.


12.Appeal : Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic – villains or monsters can also be appealing – the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting. There are several tricks for making a character connect better with the audience; for likable characters a symmetrical or particularly baby-like face tends to be effective. A complicated or hard to read face will lack appeal, it may more accurately be described as 'captivation' in the composition of the pose, or the character design.